12-1262 U.S. v. Craig

11-3607 U.S. v. Taylor

2011AP1849 In re the award of attorney fees in In re the marriage of Zimmerman v. Zimmerman

11-1773 U.S. v. Bradley

2011AP592 Wisconsin Dental Group SC vs. Kelley

Sentencing Reasonableness Where the district court did not find that a life sentence was sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with sec. 3553(a)(2), the sentence must be vacated. “The essence of Kimbrough is to permit district courts to depart from the advisory ratio when its application would result in a sentence that is “greater than necessary to accomplish ...

Sentencing Reasonableness Where the defendant’s securities fraud involved taking advantage of personal relationships with vulnerable victims, an above-guideline sentence was reasonable. “Here the judge’s explanation was more than adequate. He found that an above-range sentence was appropriate because Schlueter conned not just vulnerable victims out of large sums of money, but because he took advantage of personal relationships to cheat ...

Civil Rights Search warrants; reasonableness Officers are not required to use the least possible destructive means to execute a search warrant. “Johnson argues that the officers’ use of the jackhammer violates the reasonableness standard of the Fourth Amendment. He contends that the officers should have used a diamond or carbide-bladed saw, which would have resulted in less damage to the ...

Sentencing Reasonableness Where the district court calculated a sentencing range of 57 to 71 months, but imposed a 240-month sentence based on unsubstantiated speculation about the defendant’s prior criminal conduct and likelihood of recidivism, the sentence must be vacated. “[T]he greater concern is the absence of support for the district court’s assumptions that Bradley had committed undiscovered crimes and thus ...

Child Pornography Sentencing; reasonableness Sentences based on the child pornography guidelines are not necessarily unreasonably high. “We have previously considered and rejected the argument that sentences at the statutory maximum in child-pornography cases are more often unreasonable. In United States v. Beier, 490 F.3d 572, 573 (7th Cir. 2007), the defendant was sentenced at the bottom of the guidelines range, ...